The contact owns a 2017 Buick Encore. The contact stated that the front passenger’s side seat belt failed to work as intended. No warning lights were illuminated. The front driver’s side seat belt also failed to work as intended. The contact had to push the front seat all the way back to release the seat belt. The contact stated that the seat belt was too tight and pressed into her stomach. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact had become aware of the failure after the vehicle was purchased. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Buick Encore seat belt problems
12 of the 605 owner complaints about the Buick Encore describe seat belt won't latch or retract, most of them for the 2017 model year.
- owner complaints
- 12
- worst model year
- 2017
- typical mileage
- 36,372
Is there a fix? There are 3 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
- 20181
- 20175
- 20162
- 20153
- 20141
Often reported together
What owners say
The contact owns a 2017 Buick Encore. The contact stated that while the front passenger's side seat was occupied, the seat belt chime reminder failed to engage while the front passenger's side seat belt was not buckled, and the message "Air Bag Off" was displayed. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the front passenger's side seat presence module had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Numbers: 17V437000 (Air Bags, Seat Belts) and 16V651000 (Air Bags, Seat Belts); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Buick Encore. The contact stated that the rear passenger’s side seat belt was not retracting. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the seat belt needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the vehicle warranty had expired. There was no further assistance provided. The failure mileage was 17,846.
A car pulled out in front of my wife. She struck the other vehicle in the driver's door. The airbag did not deploy and the seatbelt did not lock. This caused her injuries. There has been a recall for this problem. It did not fix the problem. The accident occurred in a 35 MPH zone and on a 4 lane road.
Seat belt is hard to lock and sticks when you try to adjust it. It will lock up around your neck. It will lockup in motion or standing still. It has been doing it since I purchased the car 02/07/2018
Tl* the contact owns 2017 buick encore. The contact stated the front passenger's seat belt and rear passenger's side seat belts failed to lock securely into the buckle. The seat belt was cleaned however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,124.
Rear center seat belt locks when seat is put in cargo position making 2/3 of the rear seat unusable. Vehicle was under warranty when the seat was lowered, but returning the car was 2k miles over warranty. Car was at the dealership 3 days before leaving for trip, so they were aware of the mileage. Dealer cut the seat belt so the seat could be raised, but would not replace under warranty. I was directed to contact gm for assistance. Gm was of little help and contacted me 2 weeks later stating the dealership would not return their calls to discuss. Multiple complaints found at various sites, very surprised a recall has not been activated. Clear safety issue! It's a seat belt!!!!!
The rear center seat belt locks when seat is put in cargo position. This makes 2/3 pof the rear seats non-usable and passengers including children cannot ride safely in vehicle. Dealer technician reported to me he saw 16 complaints on website he used to confer with me. Resolution is to completely remove rear seats to unlock. This leaves consumer with unusabel and unsafe rear seats.
Rear seatbelt would not retract. All instruments stopped working momentarily while driving.
I had my backseats laid down to have more room when moving. After two weeks, I tried pulling the seats back into seated position. The double seat will not lift. The middle seatbelt has locked, not allowing it to lift more than about ten inches. No matter how much I try pulling the belt tight to disengage the lock, it will not give.
Related recalls
Seat belts: pretensioner
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse and Chevrolet Spark EV, Caprice PPV and SS vehicles, 2014-2017 Buick Encore and Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Trax, Suburban and Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles, and 2015-2017 GMC Sierra HD 2500 and 3500 vehicles. While being previously remedied for recall 16V‑651, the affected vehicles may not have received the complete software update necessary to remedy the recall condition. Without the update, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
- Risk
- A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1‑800‑521‑7300, Cadillac customer service at 1‑800‑458‑8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020, or GMC customer service at 1‑800‑462‑8782. GM's number for this recall is 17287.
Recall number 17V437000 · Recall details
Seat belts: pretensioner
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
- Risk
- A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1‑800‑521‑7300, Cadillac customer service at 1‑800‑458‑8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1‑800‑222‑1020, or GMC customer service at 1‑800‑462‑8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.
Recall number 16V651000 · Recall details
Seat belts: front
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013 Buick Encore vehicles manufactured August 23, 2012, to March 1, 2013, and model year 2013 Cadillac ATS vehicles manufactured April 23, 2012, to May 1, 2013. In the affected vehicles, the driver and passenger lap belt pretensioner cables may not lock in a retracted position, allowing the seat belts to extend when pulled upon.
- Risk
- If the seat belts do not remain locked in the retracted position when under load, the seat occupant may not be adequately restrained in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace both front the driver's and the passenger's lap belt pretensioners, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. GM sent interim notifications on October 7, 2014 and will send a second notification when remedy parts are available. The recall began on November 20, 2014. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1‑800‑521‑7300, or Cadillac customer service at 1‑800‑458‑8006. GM's number for this recall is 14171.
Recall number 14V488000 · Recall details
Questions about the Buick Encore seat belt
Which Buick Encore years have seat belt won't latch or retract problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2017 (5 complaints), 2015 (3 complaints) and 2016 (2 complaints).
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